The Trial Practice Tips Weblog

Motion Practice: Quit When You're Ahead

A good, and very true, reminder from Legal Blog Watch: "Rule 1: When the Judge Agrees With You, Stop Talking."

Can you believe that some lawyers violate this rule? Most likely, they're not listening.

See below, #3.

Related posts:

1. "Look at the Judge, Not Your Opposing Counsel"

2. "Arguing a Motion Before a Trial Court: Begin at the Beginning"

3. "Motion Hearings: Listening to the Judge"

Improving Your Motions for Summary Judgment

Here are some tips for defense lawyers on summary judgment from Michael Reitzell’s: "Focus on the Material Facts for a Successful Motion for Summary Judgment" (pdf). 

Link from the (new) legal writer.

Related posts:

1. "An Entertaining Discourse on Summary Judgment?"

2. "Discourse on Summary Judgment, Part II"

3. "Discourse on Summary Judgment, Part III"

Jury Selection: a List of Rules

At Mark Bennett's Defending People, you'll find "Simple Rules for Better Jury Selection."

The post is self-explanatory. Add it to your list of jury-selection references.

Views on Trial from a Veteran Trial Lawyer

On his weblog Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips, Paul Luvera has published a list of "personal views" about trials, titled "My General Views about Plaintiff Trial Work."

Some of the questions that are answered in the post--

• How a high-low agreement changes trial strategies;
• Should you be chummy with your opponent; why or why not?;
• Who typically wins cases perceived as "complex"?; and
• How a lawyer's ego can get in the way of winning.

Luvera's views are interesting and worth reading.

Metadata Update: Views from Around the U.S.

The ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center has published an article titled "Metadata Ethics Opinions Around the U.S." The jurisdictions included are--

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Florida
• Maine
• Maryland
• New Hampshire
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Vermont
• Washington, D.C.
• West Virgina

Links to the source documents from the various jurisdictions are included, as is a link to the ABA's own opinions on the metadata issue. A chart answers the following questions for each jurisdiction:

• What is the sender's duty when transmitting metadata?
• May the recipient review or "mine" metadata?
• Must the recipient notify the sender if metadata is found?

Finally, a number of past posts I've done on the metadata issue can be found at the end of the post "New ABA Ethics Opinion on Metadata" at Legal Underground.

Illinois: New Ethics Rules

From the Illinois Bar Journal: "Get Ready for Illinois’ New Rules of Professional Conduct," by By Robert A. Creamer--

On July 1, the Illinois Supreme Court announced adoption of a new set of rules of professional conduct for Illinois lawyers that take effect January 1, 2010. This article describes the background of the new Rules and highlights significant changes. The new rules are available on the court’s website . . .

The article is recommended for Illinois lawyers. Meanwhile, the ISBA is offering CLE programs about the new rules--the programs in Springfield and Carbondale are coming up.

Deposition Podcasts: Advanced Techniques

For free deposition advice, why not try my three podcasts on advanced deposition techniques? Originally posted Legal Underground, I'm reprising them here (yet again). Just follow the links--

Advanced Deposition Techniques #1: Five Tips for Asserting Control at Depositions

Advanced Deposition Techniques #2: Four Ways to Use Psychology at Your Next Deposition

Advanced Deposition Techniques #3: Miscellaneous Tips for Expert Depositions

Combined, these three podcasts have now had nearly 3,000 downloads. You can listen on a computer with speakers or even better, on any iPod or mp3 player. The 48 other podcasts I did before giving it up can be found here.

If you like what you hear on the deposition podcasts, don't forget my book: Deposition Checklists & Strategies (James Publishing, 2d Ed. 2007).

A Digression for Law Students: Outlining and Exam-Taking

Even though I graduated from law school way back in 1990, the outline-making and exam-taking experience is something that is, unfortunately, impossible to forget. That's why I wanted to point out a few useful posts:

• "Outlining 101: On Figuring Out What This 'Outline' Thing Is, Anyway." This is a recent post in which the author of the weblog Thanks, But No Thanks explains an outlining method that works.
• "This Weblog Is Going Downhill Fast: A Post About Issue-Spotting on Law School Exam." This second post, which I wrote for Legal Underground, explains my method of using the outlining process as a way of preparing to issue-spot on law school exams.

Finally, there are a number of other tips for law-school success at the Blawg Wisdom weblog, which isn't updated anymore but which contains tons of stuff in its archives.

iPhone and Smartphone Apps for Lawyers: Update

From the ABA Journal: "70 Sizzling Apps Pump up your PC, PDA and smartphone with these lawyer-friendly favorites"--

Apps: It’s a little word for those mini-programs that can pay off big in productivity, knowledge or just plain fun. And they come at all price points, from expensive-but-worth-it to absolutely free.

Whether you’re a born techie or a reluctant one, you, too, can harness the power of technology with these 70 apps lawyers are sure to love.

The article gives all the details. Meanwhile, there's other interesting iPhone news at iPhone J.D., "In the news," where I first read about the article in the ABA Journal.

Related posts:

1. "Best iPhone Applications for Lawyers"

2. "Carry the Rules With You On Your iPhone"